How thinking in a foreign language influences moral judgment

Would you kill one person to save five? People are more willing to accept such utilitarian action when using a foreign language than when using their native language. In six experiments, we investigated why foreign-language use affects moral choice in this way. On the one hand, the difficulty of using a foreign language might slow people down and increase deliberation, amplifying utilitarian considerations of maximizing welfare. On the other hand, use of a foreign language might stunt emotional processing, attenuating considerations of deontological rules, such as the prohibition against killing. Using a process-dissociation technique, we found that foreign-language use decreases deontological responding but does not increase utilitarian responding. This suggests that using a foreign language affects moral choice not through increased deliberation but by blunting emotional reactions associated with the violation of deontological rules.

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Some Challenges for Research on Emotion and Moral Judgment: The Moral Foreign-Language Effect as a Case Study

Diametros ◽

10.33392/diam.1476 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (64) ◽

pp. 56-71 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Steven McFarlane ◽

Heather Cipolletti Perez

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

Moral Judgment ◽

Moral Psychology ◽

Baseline Level ◽

Native Language ◽

Moral Dilemmas ◽

Response Tendency ◽

Frequent Use ◽

Specific Emotion

In this article, we discuss a number of challenges with the empirical study of emotion and its relation to moral judgment. We examine a case study involving the moral foreign-language effect, according to which people show an increased utilitarian response tendency in moral dilemmas when using their non-native language. One important proposed explanation for this effect is that using one’s non-native language reduces emotional arousal, and that reduced emotion is responsible for this tendency. We offer reasons to think that there is insufficient evidence for accepting this explanation at present. We argue that there are three themes that constrain our current ability to draw firm empirical conclusions: 1) the frequent use of proxies or partial measures for emotions, 2) the lack of a predictive and generalizable theory of emotion and specific emotion-types, and 3) the obscurity of a baseline level of neutrality with respect to participant emotion. These lessons apply not only to research on the moral foreign-language effect, but to empirical research in moral psychology more generally.

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What sentimentalists should say about emotion

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x18002601 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 42 ◽

Author(s):

Charlie Kurth

Keyword(s):

Moral Judgment ◽

Recent Work ◽

Relevant Information ◽

Moral Cognition ◽

Multilevel Structure

Abstract Recent work by emotion researchers indicates that emotions have a multilevel structure. Sophisticated sentimentalists should take note of this work – for it better enables them to defend a substantive role for emotion in moral cognition. Contra May's rationalist criticisms, emotions are not only able to carry morally relevant information, but can also substantially influence moral judgment and reasoning.

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Employing Latino Value Orientations to Facilitate Success in Stuttering Treatment

Perspectives on Fluency and Fluency Disorders ◽

10.1044/ffd18.3.111 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 18 (3) ◽

pp. 111-118

Author(s):

Lourdes Ramos-Heinrichs ◽

Lynn Hansberry Mayo ◽

Sandra Garzon

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

Therapeutic Relationship ◽

Service Provider ◽

Speech Therapy ◽

Cross Cultural ◽

Value Orientations ◽

Collaborative Partnership ◽

The Family ◽

Therapy Services ◽

Cultural Connections

Abstract Providing adequate speech therapy services to Latinos who stutter can present challenges that are not obvious to the practicing clinician. This article addresses cultural, religious, and foreign language concerns to the therapeutic relationship between the Latino client and the clinician. Suggestions are made for building cross-cultural connections with clients and incorporating the family into a collaborative partnership with the service provider.

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Eye Movements of Children and Adults While Reading Television Subtitles

European Psychologist ◽

10.1027/1016-9040.12.3.196 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 12 (3) ◽

pp. 196-205 ◽

Cited By ~ 57

Author(s):

Géry d'Ydewalle ◽

Wim De Bruycker

Keyword(s):

Eye Movements ◽

Foreign Language ◽

Age Differences ◽

Information Sources ◽

Native Language ◽

Verbal Information ◽

Single Text ◽

Grade 5 ◽

Reading Patterns ◽

Attentional System

Abstract. Eye movements of children (Grade 5-6) and adults were monitored while they were watching a foreign language movie with either standard (foreign language soundtrack and native language subtitling) or reversed (foreign language subtitles and native language soundtrack) subtitling. With standard subtitling, reading behavior in the subtitle was observed, but there was a difference between one- and two-line subtitles. As two lines of text contain verbal information that cannot easily be inferred from the pictures on the screen, more regular reading occurred; a single text line is often redundant to the information in the picture, and accordingly less reading of one-line text was apparent. Reversed subtitling showed even more irregular reading patterns (e.g., more subtitles skipped, fewer fixations, longer latencies). No substantial age differences emerged, except that children took longer to shift attention to the subtitle at its onset, and showed longer fixations and shorter saccades in the text. On the whole, the results demonstrated the flexibility of the attentional system and its tuning to the several information sources available (image, soundtrack, and subtitles).

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Use of the TOEFL as a Standard for University Admission: A Position Statement by the Canadian Psychological Association

European Journal of Psychological Assessment ◽

10.1027/1015-5759.14.3.261 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 14 (3) ◽

pp. 261-265 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Marvin L. Simner

Keyword(s):

Academic Achievement ◽

Foreign Language ◽

Position Statement ◽

Considerable Evidence ◽

Canadian Universities ◽

Weak Relationship ◽

University Admission ◽

Canadian Psychological Association

Nearly all Canadian universities employ, as a standard for university admission, the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). In light of considerable evidence indicating only a weak relationship between TOEFL scores and academic achievement, the Canadian Psychological Association recently issued a report containing a position statement that called upon Canadian universities to refrain from employing the TOEFL in this manner. Because the concerns raised in the report are likely to apply to many universities outside Canada, the entire report is reproduced in this article.

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Commentaries and Rejoinder on

Social Psychology ◽

10.1027/1864-9335/a000206 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 45 (4) ◽

pp. 327-334 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Han Gong ◽

Douglas L. Medin ◽

Tal Eyal ◽

Nira Liberman ◽

Yaacov Trope ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Moral Judgment ◽

Psychological Distance ◽

Temporal Distance ◽

Moral Cognition ◽

Cultural Systems ◽

Moral Condemnation ◽

Construal Levels

In the hope to resolve the two sets of opposing results concerning the effects of psychological distance and construal levels on moral judgment, Žeželj and Jokić (2014) conducted a series of four direct replications, which yielded divergent patterns of results. In our commentary, we first revisit the consistent findings that lower-level construals induced by How/Why manipulation lead to harsher moral condemnation than higher-level construals. We then speculate on the puzzling patterns of results regarding the role of temporal distance in shaping moral judgment. And we conclude by discussing the complexity of morality and propose that it may be important to incorporate cultural systems into the study of moral cognition.

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